Ranjeet Singh Thakur, 36-year-old civil engineer from Nagpur, on July 29, won 94.3 My FM’s Paiso Ka Ped – Season 3 organised in association with Nation Next as the Online Media Partner at Empress Mall. Thakur, who beat 30 finalists in the three-day grand finale to win the season 3 of the popular radio reality show, was awarded with a grand prize money of Rs 3 lakh.

Speaking to Nation Next, an elated Thakur said, “I’m really thankful to 94.3 My FM for giving me this opportunity and taking good care of all the participants during the course of the competition. It feels great to be the winner. I would like to invest the money I have won for the future of my kids.”

Paiso Ka Ped – Season 3 kick started on July 20 when the auditions of the show were held. Thousands of participants gave the auditions and then some selected participants went through a personal interview round. Out of these selected participants, 30 finalists were chosen to participate in the grand finale of Paiso Ka Ped – Season 3 at Empress Mall.

At the finale, 30 participants had to hold on to a branch each of an artificial tree for 72 hours while doing certain tasks assigned to them. The participant who let go of his/her branch for any reason (unless told by the 94.3 My FM team) was eliminated. The task, which were assigned to the participants seemed easy but were surely not. Present during the entire three days of the grand finale was the 94.3 My FM team consisting of Immanuel Singh (Station Head), Sakshi Verma (Product Head), Kishan Prajapati (Programming Head), RJ Rajan, RJ Niketa, RJ Mona, RJ Prakhar, MJ Nick, among others. My FM RJs during the three days not only motivated the participants but also made sure that everbody had a fun filled time.

Each day, participants were eliminated and when it came to the last hour of the finale, the fight was set between five partipants: Ranjeet Singh Thakur, Sameer Qureshi, Akash Jha, Akansha Bhaldhore and Pallavi Khavse. It was heartening to see all the other eliminated participants rooting and cheering for these top five finalists.

The first to get eliminated from the top five round was Pallavi, who wanted to win the prize money for the sake of her and her sister’s education. Pallavi, who was heartbroken after her elimination, in a sweet gesture was consoled by her fellow participants and My FM RJs. The next to get eliminated was Akash Jha, who showed some real sportsmanship spirit as he quickly started cheering for the top 3 contestants after his elimination.

The top three finalists: Ranjeet, Akansha and Sameer were given another task and even though Akansha held onto the task for a quite a long time, she was eliminated making the final contest between Ranjeet and Sameer. Akansha, however, earned a lot of respect from everybody present. The final contest between Ranjeet and Sameer was not only entertaining but also had everybody in rapt attention. Sameer, who wanted to win the money to get his father operated, won hearts as he kept a smile during the entire contest. Sameer, ultimately couldn’t complete the task and was eliminated in the 73rd hour making Ranjeet the undisputed winner of Paiso Ka Ped – Season 3.

A happy Ranjeet, as soon as he won, was lifted up by his fellow contestants, who in a span of a few days became his close friends. His family ran towards him to hug him and even Ranjeet lifted his little son up in the air in happiness. It was his moment of glory and happiness. He not only made his fellow contestants and family proud but also took a huge step towards making his children’s future secure.